Ask Nick: WinZip program messes up PC display

Question: I installed a WinZip program that messed up my Windows XP Professional. I deleted the program, but I couldn’t get Windows to work properly. I took it to a computer repair store and they did get my Windows to work but didn’t change the resolution which WinZip messed up.

The problems:

When I try to change the resolution and go to start, then display, I don’t get the rest of the areas I’m supposed to go to.... just a Windows display.

When I go to my AOL, I am able to get and send my email, but cannot go to any of the Internet sites. I get the following: “AOL has detected an error with your connection to the Internet. Please exit the AOL software, restart your commuter, and then sign on again.” I’ve done this to no avail.

I have: Time Warner All-In-One, AOL, Windows XP Professional, a few graphics programs.

Answer: It looks like you have two problems, Cathy. One is the resolution of the monitor, and the other is this misconfigured proxy. Let’s see what we can do about those.

I don’t know which WinZIP program you installed; there are about a hundred, and about half of them are Trojans that install malware. But let’s see what we can do to fix things, then we’ll talk about killing anything that shouldn’t be in your computer.

To change the display resolution, click Start, click Control Panel, click Appearance and Themes, and then click Display. On the Settings tab, under Screen resolution, drag the slider to the resolution you desire, and then click Apply. When prompted to apply the settings, click OK. Your screen will turn black for a moment. Once your screen resolution changes, you have 15 seconds to confirm the change. Click Yes to confirm the change, and your new resolution will be set; click No or do nothing to revert to your previous resolution. The nice thing about this is that if you mess up the resolution completely, just wait 15 seconds and the old one will be back.

The proxy problem is coming from AOL. I have only seen it on dial-up configurations. It means that the dial-up setting was changed. It’s not dangerous or problematic; since you can send email just fine, you can simply ignore it. If you want to fix it, your best bet is to check with AOL’s help people directly. There are any number of settings that can cause this; they can most easily and efficiently help you set things right quickly.

Now, the possibility of malware. Your best bet is to dance The Security Tango (securitytango.com). It takes a while to run, but it should do a pretty good job of cleaning any problems.

Question: I am tired of my Internet service provider and looking to change. For the last eight years I have had my email through them. When I change, it will be gone.

What is a good email to get? I use Yahoo for some stuff, but would like to get my immediate family to one domain that is safe, secure, and without snooping (aka Gmail).

Is there a email that fits these requirements?

My other option would be to obtain a URL and use a host to get my mail. Is there a downside to this?

— Bob, Rochester

Answer: For the record, no human ever sees your email at Google’s Gmail. A computer checks it for keywords, that’s all. It’s the same thing that the National Security Agency allegedly does. In both cases, there’s far too much mail for humans to ever look at it.

But there’s no way to keep everyone out of your email. Anything that passes along the Internet goes through many different routers. Any one of them could keep a copy. But if you’d like to keep your mail as secure as possible, getting your own domain is the way to do it. You will have complete control over your email.

The downside of that, of course, is that you have to deal with all the foibles and fixes that someone running their own mail system has to manage. You’re better off by far letting someone else handle it for you. If you’re going to get your own domain, make sure it’s one that does the updating for you. That said, having your own domain means you’ll have a permanent address that you can use as long as you like.